A Clark County sheriff's deputy, who was once the face of the department, is under fire.Capt. Racheal Lee is accused of mishandling evidence.Her attorney, Stephen Voelker, contends she's done nothing wrong.He said he believes this is a simple case of the new sheriff wanting to replace the captain with one of his own.Regardless, Lee is facing a merit board hearing that could lead to a demotion or even dismissal.Lee sat and listened as all of the merit board members said they will be part of her upcoming disciplinary hearing.Sheriff Jamey Noel charged that Lee has not followed department rules and regulations, that evidence taken was not secured in the evidence room, that she failed to property identify evidence and, in some cases, that the evidence remained in the personal custody of Lee.Department legal counsel Tom Lowe cites as an example an iPad seized in a child molestation case.“It was supposed to be sent out to have a forensic examination by a detective, actually by the Floyd County Sheriff's Office. That was never done,” Lowe said.The captain's attorney said Lee told a supervisor she had evidence in her office and did what she was required to do. He contends all the evidence involved closed cases.“In a sheriff's department, like ours, you have a limited amount of ranks available. She is a captain. They want the captain's rank to be given to somebody else is what we believe the real motivation is,” Voelker said.Lowe said it's all about not following regulations.“The concern there is a standard all officers should follow that if you don't follow that standard it's a little bit of a wild west show,” Lowe said.“We have a list of commendations that we to have to give them. She's been a tremendous asset to this community. For years, she's been the only woman in the sworn part of the police force,” Voelker said.He said the allegations against his client took place during previous administrations and under a different set of regulations.Lee is less than three years from retirement.Her merit board hearing takes place next week.

CLARK COUNTY, Ind. —

A Clark County sheriff's deputy, who was once the face of the department, is under fire.

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He said he believes this is a simple case of the new sheriff wanting to replace the captain with one of his own.

Regardless, Lee is facing a merit board hearing that could lead to a demotion or even dismissal.

Lee sat and listened as all of the merit board members said they will be part of her upcoming disciplinary hearing.

Sheriff Jamey Noel charged that Lee has not followed department rules and regulations, that evidence taken was not secured in the evidence room, that she failed to property identify evidence and, in some cases, that the evidence remained in the personal custody of Lee.

“It was supposed to be sent out to have a forensic examination by a detective, actually by the Floyd County Sheriff's Office. That was never done,” Lowe said.

The captain's attorney said Lee told a supervisor she had evidence in her office and did what she was required to do. He contends all the evidence involved closed cases.

“In a sheriff's department, like ours, you have a limited amount of ranks available. She is a captain. They want the captain's rank to be given to somebody else is what we believe the real motivation is,” Voelker said.

Lowe said it's all about not following regulations.

“The concern there is a standard all officers should follow that if you don't follow that standard it's a little bit of a wild west show,” Lowe said.

“We have a list of commendations that we to have to give them. She's been a tremendous asset to this community. For years, she's been the only woman in the sworn part of the police force,” Voelker said.

He said the allegations against his client took place during previous administrations and under a different set of regulations.